The Nigeria Prisons Service has come out to explain why it handcuffed the National Publicity Secretary, Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh while appearing for his trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday after criticism from the general public.
Clarifying the air, NPS spokesman, Francis Enobore, said the officer in charge of the escort that took Metuh to court was at liberty to determine if the inmate should be handcuffed based on security situation, the environment and intelligence report made available to him.
According to our source, Enobore stated that Metuh was not maltreated in any way, stressing that handcuffing an inmate was a standard procedure, which the prison warden could employ based on the situation at hand.
He said, “Handcuffing an inmate is at the discretion of the officer in-charge, depending on the security situation, the environment and intelligence report available to the officer. Sometimes they look at the atmosphere and take the necessary decision.
“If you suspect that the atmosphere, security-wise, may not be conducive to the inmates in your custody, you can use handcuffs; to avoid a situation where you have to start telling stories, you use your discretion to study the environment and take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the inmates in your custody.
“Remember that we not only try to secure the inmate from escaping, we equally provide protection for the inmate. The officer in-charge must ensure that the life of the inmate is not jeopardized. It is the officer in-charge of the escort that studies the security environment and takes the decision to use handcuffs.”
Asked if there was intelligence that Metuh might escape or was in danger of being harmed, Enobore said he did not know because he was not at the scene. Many had condemned the action of the NPS and have called the handcuffing of Metuh a media propaganda to please some people in the ruling party.
They argued that since Metuh was not a violent person and owing to the fact that he was accompanied by well armed security personnels, handcuffing him was a way to humiliate him even when he is assumed innocent.
Source
Punch
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